With advances in the economy and healthcare, global populations are aging rapidly. Yet, our understanding of individuals' diverse attitudes toward aging remains limited. Building on a framework with two main outcomes of aging, i.e., growth of psychological maturity and decline of physical competence, this study examines how age-related lay theories influence one’s workplace adaptation through job crafting strategies. We introduce two novel constructs—the lay theory (growth vs. fixed belief) of psychological maturity and the lay theory of physical competence—and explore their impact on networking and physical promoting activities. Drawing on implicit theory frameworks and theories of social adaptation, we argue that people with a growth belief in psychological maturity will conduct more networking activities than people with a fixed belief, while people with a non-fixed belief in physical competence will engage in more activities promoting their physical appearance than those with a fixed belief. These activities, in turn, lead to their job crafting aimed at reducing job demands and sustaining employability. By integrating lay theories and job crafting theories, our research develops new constructs and their measurements to assess age-related perceptions which can be nurtured and educated to enhance employee workplace adaptability. Our findings expand the lay theories to the aging issue. They highlight the importance of one’s attitude towards aging and provide new insights for addressing age stereotype challenges in modern workplaces. Keywords: Lay theory; psychological maturity; physical competence; job crafting; aging
